Castle in the Darkness

Retro-Inspired Action-Platformer Comes To PC Later This Summer

Publisher Nicalis announced their latest project today, an action-platformer called Castle in the Darkness. Developer Matt Kap worked on The Binding of Isaac and has been hard at work on Castle in the Darkness for two years.

Castle in the Darkness’ retro inspiration is apparent in everything from its art direction to its brutal difficulty to its story. The kingdom of Alexandria has come under attack by an evil sorcerer, who has unleashed an army of darkness, slaughtered the royal knights, and (of course) kidnapped the princess. Players control the last surviving knight of Alexandria on his quest to defeat the dark wizard and rescue the princess.

The side-scrolling Metroid-esque action platformer features castle exploration and RPG elements, with over 100 equippable weapons, armor, and magic attacks. There are over 50 bosses to confront in the dark castle, as well as plenty of hidden secrets.

Castle in the Darkness is coming to Steam for PC later this summer. For more on Matt Kap’s previous work, check out our review of Indie hit The Binding of Isaac. It’s a great summer to be into retro-by-design games, as the highly successful and well-received Shovel Knight recently came out. Senior associate editor Tim Turi talked to the developers of Shovel Knight about what it's like making an NES-style game for today's market, and you can read the interview here.